NEWS

In a story about love and acceptance, Mo’Nique and Isaiah Washington take the big screen in the heartfelt film, Blackbird.

The drama, which is based on the novel by Larry Duplechan, is a powerful coming-of-age story about a young teen boy who is struggling with his sexuality. Newcomer, Julian Walker plays the role of 17-year-old Randy Rousseau, and according to the actor, the role isn’t a far stretch from his real life story.

“What ya’ll saw on that screen was me,” Walker emotionally explained during the premiere at the Pan African Film Festival. “It was like I was telling my own personal story.”

Mo’Nique and Washington, who are both producers on the film, shared with HipHollywood why they feel this is a story that needed to be told.

“Just trying to get the message out about acceptance,” Mo shared. “It seems like every week somebody is coming out saying ‘I’m gay.’ It’s people saying ‘I’m tired of being in prison just within myself.’ We hope that at the end of this film people walk away and say, ‘people just want to be loved.'”

“I’m going to have a lot of people mad at me. The Black church is going to be hot,” Washington shared. “But I like it hot. I want people to be mad because if your mad, your mouth is going to be open and I’m going to be able to slip some truth into it.”

After nearly five years away from the film industry, Mo’Nique is thrilled to be back in the spotlight. “I’m just a little girl walking in a dream,” she told us. “I appreciate when the people say ‘hey sis, we missed you.'”

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The story of acceptance definitely needs to be told, especially to our Black folks who continue to destroy the souls of their own children because of a lie told to them by the same people who enslaved our fore-parents. God loves all His children; Christ said the pure in heart shall see God, and it is time we look at the hearts of men and stop judging them by their outside appearance. The next time we think to hate our gay brother, we need to stop and ask, does him being gay stop him from loving and being kind to others? If the answer is no, then why cast the stone?